Nice bit of diatribe, Dave, but it shows once again how people of your persuasion deal with surface BS to attempt to shift the premise of the debate. Neither Larry or I said that we find war to be acceptable. On a personal level I detest it as only a person who has had to practice it can. That is not to take away from folks like my friend, Barry Finn. While our views on this matter may not jibe, I find people who stood on their principles and risked jail to be very brave. I cannot argue with his courage and morals. Actually, I thank God for people like him. They are warriors in the truest sense. But back to you and your post. I do congratulate you on your posting of facts and I will square them with my own sources. I will then respond. Thanks for posting them. I would also like to thank you for including all sides in your post. One of the "hot buttons" of mine is when people post about IRA violence as if it was the only violence being committed.

Now let me tell you why I consider your post to be a self serving diatribe. Once again you, like others, post without reading the entire thread. Either that or you chose to ignore what I have said on any number of occasions. And that is........are you listening Dave, Bev and others?.........that it is a moot point because the people of the North and the South, the Orange and the Green, Unionist and Nationalists, have spoken. I have said repeatedly, going back at least 15 months, that if we care about the land of parents and grandparents as much as we say we do, then we will support the peace process with the same vigor that we supported the armed struggle. The children, all the children, of the North and of the South of Ireland deserve this. Please CLICK HERE and HERE. If those links don't work, then go to the Forum search and enter [Back Home In Derry] and go to my posts of 98Sept22 at 11:30 and 98Sept29 at 9:47. My position has always been clear, but people like you don't seem to want to reference that. And most troubling is that you don't want to see an informed discussion. You would rather turn it into a finger pointing session. And that has got more to do with the troubles lasting as long as they have than all the "Shamrock Yanks" in the world. Peace will come because people of honorable intentions and differing views will attempt to sit down and understand one another. Not because pompous people, from the power side of the equation, sit in judgement of the tactics of the other side. I would point out to you that the IRA, despite intense provocation from the Unionists, has been the party responsible for both starting the cease fire, and maintaining it. And I am betting that THIS peace process will work..............because the people of that island have said it must be so.

Big Mick